Bioresistive-fingerprint based sobriety monitoring system

ABSTRACT

A system and method of monitoring sobriety using a handheld breath testing device that, on receipt of a user&#39;s breath, generates a breath test signal comprising substance content data and user identification data, and wirelessly transmits the breath test signal to a breath test signal receiving station, and wherein the breath testing device further includes a fingerprint reader and a plurality of sensors.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 17/588,051, filed Jan. 28, 2022, which is a continuation ofU.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/178,240, filed Feb. 17, 2021, whichis a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/880,976, filedMay 21, 2020, now abandoned, which is a continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 16/521,484, filed Jul. 24, 2019, now abandoned,which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/894,781,filed Feb. 12, 2018, now abandoned, which is a continuation of U.S.patent application Ser. No. 15/289,881, filed Oct. 10, 2016, now issuedas U.S. Pat. No. 9,922,508, which claims priority pursuant to U.S.C §119(e) to U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/239,648, filed Oct. 9,2015, the disclosures of all of which are hereby incorporated byreference in their entireties.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to remote sobrietymonitoring, and more particularly to a method and system utilizing abreath testing and biometric identification device for periodicallyanalyzing the alcohol content or other substance content of the breathof a user.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

One of the challenges in remotely monitoring someone's sobriety with amobile breathalyzer is being able to say with certainty that the personbeing monitored was the same person taking a given breath test. Somecurrent state of the art devices use a digital imager to take aphotograph of the user as they blow into the device, and also rely onbreath temperature and pressure sensors to determine if an air sourceother than the user's breath is being used. These devices were describedin U.S. application Ser. No. 13/357,494 (which is now U.S. Pat. No.8,707,758, to Keays), U.S. application Ser. No. 13/274,553, and U.S.application Ser. No. 12/882,323 (which is now U.S. Pat. No. 8,381,573,to Keays), the entire contents and disclosures of which are hereinincorporated by reference. This works well, however, the use of adigital imager presents several issues that are less than desirable.First, because the imager is typically close to the user's face whenthey blow into the device, a wide-angle lens is used to capture an imageof the whole face. This results in an image with a “fish eye” effect,making user hard to recognize. Second, the digital image is sent withthe test report. The smallest image that is practical to use is a320×240 jpeg image. The maximum size of these images is roughly 20Kbytes and is by far the largest piece of data contained in the breathtest. The method outlined herein provides a means by which a user can bepositively identified without the need for a digital image.

It would therefore be desirable to provide a method and system ofproviding supervisory monitoring of sobriety that is discrete, portable,tamper-proof, effective, and including bioresistive-fingerprintidentification, and that can automatically alert a monitoring station ofthe need for attention and possible corrective or medical action by sucha supervisory sober buddy or sober companion on an on-call basis. Thepresent invention meets these and other needs.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Provided herein are embodiments of a handheld device for monitoring thesobriety of a user. The handheld device includes a mouth piece forreceiving a user's mouth, a conductive area positioned on themouthpiece, a user identification device positioned on a case of thehandheld device, and a conductive area positioned on said useridentification device.

In some embodiments, a handheld device is provided for monitoring thesobriety of a user. The handheld device includes a mouth piece forreceiving a user's mouth and the user's breath, a conductive areapositioned on said mouthpiece for receiving a first resistancemeasurement, a user identification device positioned on a case of thehandheld device for receiving the user's fingerprint, a conductive areapositioned on said user identification device for receiving a secondresistance measurement, and a wireless transceiver.

These and other aspects and advantages of the invention will be apparentfrom the following detailed description and the accompanying drawing,which illustrates by way of example the features of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Illustrated in the accompanying drawings is at least one of the bestmode embodiments of the present invention In such drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a breath testing andidentification device for monitoring sobriety, according to anembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating an exemplary operation of abreath testing and identification device for monitoring sobriety,according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating the method and system formonitoring sobriety, according an embodiment of the invention; and

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating another the method and systemfor monitoring sobriety, according to an embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The above described drawing figures illustrate the described apparatusand its method of use in at least one of its preferred, best modeembodiment, which is further defined in detail in the followingdescription. Those having ordinary skill in the art may be able to makealterations and modifications to what is described herein withoutdeparting from its spirit and scope. Therefore, it should be understoodthat what is illustrated is set forth only for the purposes of exampleand should not be taken as a limitation on the scope of the presentapparatus and its method of use.

In the following description and in the figures, like elements areidentified with like reference numerals. The use of “e.g.,” “etc.,” and“or” indicates non-exclusive alternatives without limitation, unlessotherwise noted. The use of “including” or “includes” means “including,but not limited to,” or “includes, but not limited to,” unless otherwisenoted.

As used herein, the term “and/or” placed between a first entity and asecond entity means one of (1) the first entity, (2) the second entity,and (3) the first entity and the second entity. Multiple entities listedwith “and/or” should be construed in the same manner, i.e., “one ormore” of the entities so conjoined. Other entities may optionally bepresent other than the entities specifically identified by the “and/or”clause, whether related or unrelated to those entities specificallyidentified. Thus, as a non-limiting example, a reference to “A and/orB”, when used in conjunction with open-ended language such as“comprising” can refer, in one embodiment, to A only (optionallyincluding entities other than B); in another embodiment, to B only(optionally including entities other than A); in yet another embodiment,to both A and B (optionally including other entities). These entitiesmay refer to elements, actions, structures, steps, operations, values,and the like.

Referring now to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals designateidentical or corresponding parts throughout the several views andembodiments, FIGS. 1 to 4 illustrate embodiments of a system and methodfor sobriety monitoring, utilizing a breath testing and biometricidentification device for analyzing the alcohol content or othersubstance content of the breath of a user in combination with a wirelessor cellular transmitter or transceiver device to transmit an alcoholcontent or other substance content signal to a wireless or cellularsignal receiver and/or monitoring station.

Briefly, and in general terms, the present invention provides for amethod and system for monitoring sobriety of a user on an automatedbasis, utilizing a hand-held breath testing device, a wireless orcellular transmitter or transceiver device for wirelessly transmittingresults of the breath testing to a wireless or cellular receivermonitoring station. The monitoring station receives the breath testingresults (and optionally identification such as a fingerprint) from thewireless or cellular transmitter or transceiver device, and indicates analarm or otherwise alerts an on-call monitor when the wireless orcellular transmitter or transceiver is indicated to be off, or when thebreath testing results indicate a breath test content greater than apredetermined threshold, or when the received breath is not the breathof the user (which can be determined from the fingerprint and aresistance measurement as described herein in more detail). The methodand system can be used in connection with a traditional sober buddy,chaperone service on an on-call basis only, to limit the expense andlabor intensiveness of the supervisory care. Such a systems may also beused to monitor abstinence from other drugs which can be taken orallyand tested by breath analyzer or the like without the use of a chaperoneon a continuing basis.

A cellular module can alternatively be provided inside the breathtesting and identification device that can send a breath test reportdirectly through WiFi, cell towers, or through other mobile wirelessnetworks such as those that do not rely on fixed infrastructure, forexample.

Described now in detail is a method and system for monitoring sobrietyof a user, for example, a recovering alcoholic, as an intermediate,automated way of engaging the services of a sober buddy, sobercompanion, sober coach, or other supervisory care for the user to help,for example, ensure against relapse of the user, and to help the usermaintain sufficient abstinence from alcohol or another substance toreside and function outside of a treatment facility.

Fingerprint identification modules allow fingerprints to be used in lieuof a password in mobile devices such as phones, personal digitalassistants (PDAs) and tablets. In order to use fingerprintidentification, these devices train the module on what the users'fingerprints look like by having them place their finger on the modulein several different orientations. Once trained, the module comparesfuture fingerprints against these reference prints to determine if aknown user is trying to access the device. However, using a fingerprintreader module alone in a breathalyzer is often not enough, for example,the user could simply use his own fingerprints but has someone else blowinto the breathalyzer device. There needs to be a way to confirm thatthe person blowing into the device is the one whose fingerprints wereused to initiate the test.

To solve this problem, generally, the system of the invention uses a“smart” mouthpiece for the user to blow into the device when taking atest. In some embodiments, the end of the device, where the user placeshis or her mouth during the blow, is conductive. A conductive elementmay also be placed at the fingerprint reader on the breathalyzer, sothat when the user's finger is on the reader it comes in contact withthe conductive element. After one or more fingerprints of the user havebeen used to positively identify the user, the device will take aresistance measurement between the fingerprint reader and themouthpiece. If the resistance falls within a specified range, the devicewill determine that the finger currently on the fingerprint reader is“connected” to the mouth currently on the mouthpiece, and thefingerprint can be positively connected to the breath used for the test.

Referring now to FIG. 1 , an exemplary embodiment of a substance testingdevice 10 is shown. In this embodiment, the substance testing device 10is a breath testing device. The substance testing device 10 may includea mouthpiece 22 and a user identification device (UID) 24. The UID 24 islocated on a wall of the case of the substance testing device 10. TheUID 24 may be operable to generate a user identification data. In thisexample, the UID 24 is a fingerprint reader. In FIG. 1 , area A is theconductive portion of the mouthpiece 22, area B is the conductiveelement of the UID 24. Area A is sized to ensure that the user's mouthwill be in contact therewith while the user's mouth is placed on themouthpiece 22. The UID 24 and area B will be in contact with, forexample, a user's thumb (though any finger or multiple fingers may beused), while the user is operating (e.g., holding) the substance testingdevice 10. Although shown as a horizontally elongated tube, themouthpiece 22 may be in other shape suitable for the user to place hisor her mouth over and to breath into.

Referring to FIG. 2 , an exemplary operation of the substance testingdevice 10 is shown. The substance testing device 10 may be a hand heldsubstance testing device operable to test for the presence of alcohol orother substance in the breath of the user. The testing device 10 mayalso operate to test the quantity of alcohol or other substance in thebreath of the user. One or more components of the substance testingdevice 10 can be found in the embodiments described in the incorporatedreferences mentioned herein. For example, the substance testing device10 may include a breath testing sensor, a printed circuit board (PCB)assembly, a transceiver unit, a GPS module, a camera, and so on.

A shown, when the user operates the substance testing device 10, theuser places his or her mouth over the mouthpiece 22 and area A, so thatarea A is in contact with the user's mouth. The user holds the substancetesting device 10 so that his or her fingerprint (e.g., thumb'sfingerprint as shown) will be on the UID 24 and in contact with area B.The user blows into the substance testing device 10 while holding thesubstance testing device 10.

Referring to FIG. 3 , in an exemplary embodiment, a substance testingdevice 10, a transceiver unit 12, a receiving station 14, and asupervisory monitor 16 may be provided for testing and positivelyidentifying a user. The transceiver unit 12 may be configured totransmit a content signal 11 to the receiving station 14. The contentsignal 11 is generated by the substance testing device 10 and includesat least substance content data. For example, the testing device 10 maybe a breathalyzer type testing device operable to analyze the alcoholcontent of the breath of a user and generate an alcohol content signalindicative of the alcohol content of the user's breath.

The substance content signal 11 may also include a user identificationdata, for example, fingerprint data. Alternatively, the useridentification data may be transmitted to the receiving station 14separately from the content signal 11.

In some embodiments, the content signal 11 is generated by the substancetesting device 10 only if the substance testing device 10 determinesthat the finger currently on the fingerprint reader is “connected” tothe mouth currently on the mouthpiece, and the fingerprint can bepositively connected to the breath used for the test as describedherein.

In at least one embodiment, the content signal 11 includes a digitizedreport which may be accessible by a supervisory monitor 16. Alltransmission described herein may occur over a wireless, wired,cellular, or any other type of network now known or hereafter developed.In at least one embodiment, the transceiver unit 12 is internal to thesubstance testing device 10 and is a hardware component thereof.

The receiving station 14 may be configured to receive the content signal11. The receiving station 14 may be configured to inform the supervisorymonitor 16 if the content signal 11 is not received from the transceiverat a predetermined time, or if the content signal 11 indicates that thesubstance content levels exceed a predetermined threshold. For example,the typical legal limit of blood alcohol content (BAC) is 0.08%. Thus,receiving station may inform the supervisory monitor 16 if the contentsignal indicates the user's BAC is greater than 0.08%. Importantly, thepredetermined threshold may be set at a higher or lower level as may bedesired. Additionally, the receiving station 14 may be configured toconvey the content signal 11, or a report based thereon, directly to thesupervisory monitor 16 so that the supervisory monitor 16 is made awareof the substance content data. Thus, for example, the receiving stationmay inform the supervisory monitor 16 (who may be, for example, a parentor guardian) that the user (who may be, for example, a teenage child ofthe parent or guardian) has a BAC of 0.03%.

In some embodiments, the receiving station 14 may include any location,device or system where the content signal 11 is received, including, forexample: a monitoring station, a cellular/smart phone, an email account,a website, a network database, and a memory device. Additionally, thesupervisory monitor 16 may comprise a parent, guardian, family member,friend, parole officer, court appointed supervisor, sobriety coach,sober buddy, sober companion, police department, or other supervisorycare person, group, or authority.

Preferably, the entire test and fingerprint reading and useridentification process should take less than 60 seconds. The receivingstation 14, for example, a monitoring station, website or server, canautomatically evaluate the content signal 11 and maintain a history ofthe test time, result and the user identification data for each test.The receiving station 14 can also include a database and software foranalysis of user identification data to confirm or reject the testresults, and to determine whether corrective action is required. Asexplained herein, identification of the user in association with thecontent signal 11 may be aided by fingerprint recognition. Otherrecognition techniques now known or developed hereafter, for example,facial recognition, voice recognition, DNA recognition, and irisrecognition may also be considered. Additionally, a supervisor maycompare the received user identification data with a stored useridentification reference in order to positively identify the user. Themonitoring station can also provide a variety of reports of the user'stesting history or individual test results to allow comprehensive anddetailed analysis of the user's testing history, which can be accessedvia the Internet as desired. The generated reports may be officialDepartment of Transportation Evidential Breath Testing (EBT) reports, ormay be of any other custom or preset format. In some embodiments, stillframe photographs or movies used in identification of the user may alsobe included in the reports.

It will be appreciated that user identification may occur independent ofthe receiving station 14. For example, a user identification module ofthe substance testing device 10 may include a memory that may store areference user identification data for comparison with the generateduser identification data. Upon successful comparison, i.e. the actualuser is the intended user, the user identification module maycommunicate a pass signal which may be added to the content signal 11.

As previously described, the substance testing device 10 may include abreathalyzer type device, which includes a mouthpiece 22 configured tobe placed at or in a user's mouth during breath testing, and afingerprint reader device 24. The mouthpiece 22 may be mounted to an endof an extension portion which is in turn connected to a breath analysisand processing portion of the breath testing device 10. The fingerprintreader device 24 may be suitably configured where the user places histhumb during breath testing, and may be configured to read the user'sfingerprint in synchronization with the testing of the user's breath, toprovide identification information for later use in positiveidentification of the user with the test results. After the fingerprintshave been used to positively identified the user, the testing device 10will take a resistance measurement between the fingerprint reader 24 andthe mouthpiece 22. If the resistance falls within a specified range, thetesting device 10 will know that the finger currently on the fingerprintreader 24 is “connected” to the mouth currently on the mouthpiece 22,and the fingerprint can be positively connected to the breath used forthe test. For example, if a test is initiated and the resistance valuebetween the mouthpiece 22 and the fingerprint reader 24 is equal to orgreater than 4 mega-Ohms, it can be concluded that the mouth and fingerdo not belong to the same person. If the resistance value between themouthpiece and the fingerprint reader is less than 4 mega-Ohms it can beconcluded that the mouth and finger belong to the same person.

In some embodiments, the mouthpiece 22 may be removable.

The substance testing device 10 may include a status LED, for example,for indicating when the device is ready for use and when the device hascompleted breath testing and identification.

In some embodiments, the breath testing sensor (not shown) of thetesting device 10 includes a sensor capable of detecting the presence ofat least one controlled substance or narcotic. The sensor may utilize,for example, a chromatography sensors, mass spectroscopy sensors, fiberoptic fluorescent sensors, or surface acoustic wave sensors to detectthe presence of controlled substances or narcotics and theirderivatives, such as, for example: methamphetamines, amphetamines,barbituates, tetrahydrocannabinol or other cannibanoids,benzoylmethylecgonine, diacetylmorphine or other opiates/opioids,lysergic acid diethylamide, psilocin, phencyclidine and the like, in auser's breath.

The PCB assembly is configured to receive the substance content data andgenerate a breath test signal 11 therefrom. The PCB assembly is alsoconfigured to receive user identification data generated by thefingerprint reader 24 and to generate the breath test signal 11 from theuser identification data (which may be compressed) and the substancecontent data. In some embodiments, the PCB is configured to operate acompression process to compress the user identification data.

Additionally, the substance testing device 10 may utilize softwarealgorithms analyzing pressure and temperature sensor data to ensure thatthe breath being analyzed is that of a person. Accordingly, thesubstance testing device 10 may comprise one or more pressure gauges(not shown) and/or temperature sensors (not shown) at various pointsthereon.

In some embodiments, the substance testing device 10 may be connected toa mobile wireless or cellular transmitter or transceiver device, whichmay be connected to the substance testing device 10 either directly,such as by an electrical connection, or wirelessly, to receive thebreath test signal 11 including breath test data, fingerprint data,photograph, movie, or other user identification data, as well as any GPSlocation data.

In some embodiments, the substance testing device 10 can also be usablein combination with an iPad™, iPhone™, or other wireless or cellulardevice, or any other computing device, for example, which can serve as awireless or cellular transmitter or transceiver device, as discussedherein.

In some embodiments, the content signal 11 including at least one of:content data, user identification data, and location data, can be sentdirectly from one mobile wireless or cellular transmitter or transceiverdevice to another mobile wireless or cellular transmitter or transceiverdevice, without storing one or more of the content data, useridentification data, or location data.

The wireless or cellular receiver monitoring station 16 can beconfigured to receive the content signal comprising at least one of:content data, user identification data, and location data, and toindicate an alarm condition or alert a supervisory monitor eitherdirectly or via a network.

In some embodiments, the substance testing device 10 may also beincluded in or connected to a vehicle ignition interlock signalgenerating system. The output of the substance testing device 10 may beprovided to enable/disable a vehicle ignition lock based on the datareceived in accordance with the algorithms described above. In addition,an on-call supervisory person may be alerted, and a receiving station 16may also receive the enable/disable signal as well as the content signal11 described above.

Referring to FIG. 4 , in an exemplary embodiment, a schematic of asubstance testing device 10 is shown. In the example, the substancetesting device 10 is a breath testing device. The testing unit 10 maycomprise an internal cell module 500, the testing unit 10 here being astand-alone unit.

The testing unit 10 may include at least: the user identification module24, the breath analysis module 340, the control module (CPU) 360, thecellular module 500 and a GPS module 310, and so on.

The cellular module 500 may include a transceiver operable to transmitthe breath test data to the monitoring station 600. The GPS module 310may enable the tracking of the testing unit 10 by the generation oflocation data. A breath test signal may be generated, at least in part,by the location data.

The testing unit 10 may also include a personal area network (PAN) orBluetooth (or suitable short-range communication) module 380, enablingthe testing unit 10 to be in communication with the monitoring station600. The module 380, for example a vehicle interlock 700.

Communication between the module 380 and the monitoring station may besecured by data encryption techniques now known or hereafter devised.For example, data may be encrypted by means of a random security PIN.Devices that are compromised may be forced from the monitoring stationserver and may require re-activation and authentication.

The testing unit 10 may also include a graphical user interface 330(GUI). The GUI may permit the user to interactively control the breathtesting process, calibrate the breath testing unit, schedule breath testtimes, retrieve past breath test reports, and/or access otherinformation stored in the testing unit 10.

The GUI 330 may be configured to display a reminder at a predeterminedtime, the reminder reminding the user that a breath testing session isdue. Additionally, the testing unit 10 may cause users to receiveelectronic reminders via SMS, email, or bi-directional communicationbetween the testing unit 10 and a receiving station. Additionally, thetesting unit 10 may enable the user to receive breath test requests fromthe monitoring station 600. Such requests may be remotely or directlytransmitted to the testing unit 10. Such requests may also be randomlytimed.

The testing unit 10 may also include an audio means, such as a speaker,for generating an audio reminder that a breath testing session is due.The tone and/or duration of the audio alert may indicate the urgency ofthe required breath testing session. For example, three beeps mayindicate a session is required immediately, while one beep may indicatea session will be due shortly. The audio means may also be configured togenerate a vibration reminder according to methods known in the art.

It will be appreciated, that while at least one embodiment is hereindescribed through example as testing for alcohol use, such embodimentsmay be equally applicable to testing for the use of controlledsubstances or other narcotics, as described herein.

Other exemplary embodiments and processes of the substance testingdevice are further described in the references mentioned above and areincorporated in entirety by reference herein.

The embodiments described in detail above are considered novel over theprior art of record and are considered critical to the operation of atleast one aspect of the apparatus and its method of use and to theachievement of the above described objectives. The words used in thisspecification to describe the instant embodiments are to be understoodnot only in the sense of their commonly defined meanings, but to includeby special definition in this specification: structure, material or actsbeyond the scope of the commonly defined meanings. Thus if an elementcan be understood in the context of this specification as including morethan one meaning, then its use must be understood as being generic toall possible meanings supported by the specification and by the word orwords describing the element.

The definitions of the words or drawing elements described herein aremeant to include not only the combination of elements which areliterally set forth, but all equivalent structure, material or acts forperforming substantially the same function in substantially the same wayto obtain substantially the same result. In this sense it is thereforecontemplated that an equivalent substitution of two or more elements maybe made for any one of the elements described and its variousembodiments or that a single element may be substituted for two or moreelements.

Changes from the claimed subject matter as viewed by a person withordinary skill in the art, now known or later devised, are expresslycontemplated as being equivalents within the scope intended and itsvarious embodiments. Therefore, obvious substitutions now or later knownto one with ordinary skill in the art are defined to be within the scopeof the defined elements. This disclosure is thus meant to be understoodto include what is specifically illustrated and described above, what isconceptually equivalent, what can be obviously substituted, and alsowhat incorporates the essential ideas.

The scope of this description is to be interpreted only in conjunctionwith the appended claims and it is made clear, here, that each namedinventor believes that the claimed subject matter is what is intended tobe patented.

What is claimed is:
 1. A handheld device for monitoring the sobriety ofa user, the handheld device comprising: a mouth piece for receiving auser's mouth; a conductive area positioned on said mouthpiece; a useridentification device positioned on a case of the handheld device; and aconductive area positioned on said user identification device.
 2. Thehandheld device of claim 1, wherein the handheld device is configured toobtain a resistance measurement at the conductive area positioned onsaid mouthpiece and a resistance measurement at the conductive areapositioned on said user identification device.
 3. The handheld device ofclaim 2, wherein the handheld device is further configured to determinewhether the resistance measurement between the conductive areapositioned on said mouthpiece and the resistance measurement at theconductive area positioned on said user identification device fallwithin a specified range.
 4. The handheld device of claim 1, furthercomprising a wireless transceiver.
 5. The handheld device of claim 4,further configured to transmit one or more substance content signals. 6.The handheld device of claim 5, wherein the one or more substancecontent signals include a user identification.
 7. The handheld device ofclaim 6, wherein the user identification is a fingerprint.
 8. A handhelddevice for monitoring the sobriety of a user, the handheld devicecomprising: a mouth piece for receiving a user's mouth and the user'sbreath; a conductive area positioned on said mouthpiece for receiving afirst resistance measurement; a user identification device positioned ona case of the handheld device for receiving the user's fingerprint; aconductive area positioned on said user identification device forreceiving a second resistance measurement; and a wireless transceiver.9. The handheld device of claim 8, wherein the handheld device isfurther configured to determine whether the resistance measurementbetween the first resistance measurement and the second resistancemeasurement fall within a specified range.
 10. The handheld device ofclaim 8, further configured to transmit one or more substance contentsignals.
 11. The handheld device of claim 10, wherein the handhelddevice is further configured to transmit one or more substance contentsignals if the resistance measurement between the first resistancemeasurement and the second resistance measurement fall within aspecified range.
 12. The handheld device of claim 10, wherein the one ormore substance content signals include a user identification.
 13. Thehandheld device of claim 12, wherein the user identification is afingerprint.
 14. A handheld device for monitoring the sobriety of auser, the handheld device comprising: a camera for taking a digitalimage of the user; a mouth piece for receiving a user's mouth and theuser's breath; a conductive area positioned on said mouthpiece forreceiving a first resistance measurement; a user identification devicepositioned on a case of the handheld device for receiving the user'sfingerprint; a conductive area positioned on said user identificationdevice for receiving a second resistance measurement; and a wirelesstransceiver.
 15. The handheld device of claim 14, wherein the handhelddevice is further configured to determine whether the resistancemeasurement between the first resistance measurement and the secondresistance measurement fall within a specified range.
 16. The handhelddevice of claim 14, further configured to transmit one or more substancecontent signals.
 17. The handheld device of claim 16, wherein the one ormore substance content signals include one or more user identifications.18. The handheld device of claim 17, wherein the one or more useridentifications include a fingerprint.
 19. The handheld device of claim17, wherein the one or more user identifications include a digitalimage.
 20. The handheld device of claim 17, wherein the one or more useridentifications include one or more of a fingerprint and a digitalimage.